Overturning cage



. Dec. 29, 1925 D. F. LEPLEY OVERTURNING CAGE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 2, 1923 Dec. 29, 1925' D. F. LEPLEY OVERTURNING CAGE Filed Nov. 2,1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 attorney Dec. 29 1925.

D. F. LEPLEY OVERTURNING CAGE Filed Nov. 2, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 5gwuentov D. F. LEPLEY OVERTURNING CAGE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 2,1923 Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

entree, STATES PATENT orrice.

DANIEL F. LE'E'LEY, OE CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

OVER'I'URNING- CAGE.

Application filed November 2, 1923. Serial- No. 672,389.

State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Overturning Cage,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to overturning cages for use in mines, the cagebeing of that'type adapted to receive a loaded car and elevate it to thepointof delivery where theplatformof the cage is overturned with the carattached thereto and said platform used as a chute for delivering thecontents of the car into a chute provided therefor.

Heretofore dumping or overturning cages of this type have been used but,by

reason oftheir construction, it has been almost impossible to prevent aportion of the'inaterial being delivered from falling down the shaftofthe mine or from being tossed away from the shaft and scatteredpromiscuously because of the centrifugal force resulting from the rapidoverturning of the cage at the dumping point.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an overturningcage having means cooperating therewith whereby a guide chute locatedadjacent the side of the shaft is brought automatically into position toreceive all of the material delivered from the cage, thereby preventingthe material from falling down the shaft.

A further object is to provide the overturning portion of the cage withan outlet spout that is comparatively short so that centrifugal forcedue to the overturning action is greatly reduced, this shortening of theoutlet spout being permitted in view of the fact that the intermediatechute is brought automatically to position to receive material deliveredfrom the spout.

A further object is to provide the overturning portion of the cage witha door at the spout end thereof which will open automatically when thecage arrives at the point of loadingso that a loaded car can passreadily onto and off of the cage, there being means for automaticallyclosing and fastening the door when the cage begins to -leretoforcoverturning dumping cages have consisted of two main members, namely,the bail which is always suspended from the cable and the body whichcarries the load and is pivotally mounted within the bail, the cagebeing operated by some form of curved stationary guide fixed within thetipple structure. lVhen the tilting member or body of the cage with itsload has been swung far enough to discharge its load a large part of itsweight is supported in the tipple at a point well removed from the ropeor cable. This has imposed a greatly increased burden upon the hoistwhen lifting the loaded cage from the bottom of the shaft because it hasbeen necessary to pivot the load carrying body far out of line with theguides in order to effect the proper dumping action. This has been thecause of considerable complaint on the part of the mine operatorsbecause it increases the starting load and affects the power rate sothat the costs of operating are much higher than where cages are at alltimes kept in balance or substantially in balance. One of the objects ofthe present invention is to so mount the tilting portion of the cagethat it is practically balanced at all times, thereby reducing the costof operation, the efliciency of the action being further increased byreason of the fact that the tilting of the body and its load is gradualand thus insures against breaking down such as where abrupt movements ofthe tilting body are necessary.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within thescope of what is claimed witliout departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a view showing diagrammatically severalpositions of the overturning portion of the cage and the parts tooperating therewith, during the arrival of the cage at the point ofdelivery of the load.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cage, the door thereof being shown bydotted lines in closed position and a portion thereof being shown byfull lines in open position.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the cage and the means employedfor opening the door thereof, said door being shown in open position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the door and itslatch.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the latch controlling spring and partscooperating therewith.

Fig. 6 is a view showing in side elevation the stationary andintermediate chutes and those parts that cooperate to actuate theintermediate chute.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through a portion of the overturning memberof the cage.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates theusual frame or bail of a cage, the same being provided with guides 2 forengagement with the rails with in the shaft of a mine so that the cagewill be'caused to travel along a straight line during its up and downmovement. Secured to this frame are parallel upwardly and laterallycurved rails 3 merging, at their upper ends, into straight upwardlyextending portions 4 so that a channel 5 is thus formed between therails, the upper portions of the rails being connected firmly to thecage structure by means of suitably arranged braces 6. A plate 7constitutes a connection between the lower portions of the rails and thecage and also cooperates with smaller plates 8 for holding the railsproperly spaced apart.

Extending laterally from the frame of the cage is an extension frame 9constituting asupport for one end of a tilting platform 19 havingupstanding side walls 11. Only one of these side walls has beenillustrated but it is to be understood that each of them has a plate 12suitably secured thereto and provided with outstanding studs 13 and 14.The studs 13 constitute trunnions mounted in bearings 15 secured to thesides of the frame and are located adjacent the center of gravity of thecage so that the minimum power is required to tilt the cage when loaded.Studs 14 are connected by links 16 to triangular levers 17 as indicatedat 18, these levers being fulcrumed on the extension frame 9 as shownat- 19 while the upper ends of the levers project above the sides 11 ofthe platform 10 and carry rollers 20. A stop plate 21 is located undereach of the levers 17 and serves to limit the downward movement of thepivotal connection 18 just after said 'pivotal connection movesdownwardly past the dead center. Thus when the pivotal lXHillJ 18 is innormal position as in Fig. 2 the platform is fastened against tiltlngand cannot be caused to tilt in the bail until the pivotal point 18 islifted above the dead center.

The top of the overturning cage is closed by a plate 22 and the sidewalls 11 of the cage are formed with extensions 23 forming the sidewalls of the short delivery spout. The plate 22 is extended betweenthese e tensions 23 and forms another wall of the spout. An end wall 24is provided between the extensions 23 and forms a portion of the bottomof the outlet spout when the cage is overturned. The remaining portionof the bottom is made up of a door 25 hingedly supported at the loweredge of the wall 24 and having side flanges 2-6 adapted to lap the sidewalls of the cage when the door is in normal or closed position.Brackets 27 are secured to the bottom of the platform 10 and carry across rod 28. The door 25 is extended below platform 10 and has a lever29 pivotally mounted at each sidethereof. This lever has a hook-edterminal 30 adapted to engage the rod 28 and fasten the door 25 inclosed position. A rod 31 is pivotally connected to the other end of thelever and is slidable in an elongated yoke 32 pivotally connected to abracket 33 mounted on the door 25. In this yoke is a spring 34, thatbears at one end against the bottom of the yoke and at its other endagainst a disk 35 adjustably connected to the rod 31 as shown at 36. Itwill be noted that a guide plate 37 is fastened in the yoke and that therod is slidable therein. As the spring exerts an upward thrust againstthe disk 35 the hooked end or head 30 of the lever 29 will be heldfirmly in engagement with the rod 28. Rotatable with the lever 29 is anarm 38 and journaled on this arm is a roller 39. Another roller 40 isjournaled on the lever 29 and is concentric with the pivotal center ofthe lever.

Fixedly mounted adjacent the bottom of the shaft in which the cageoperates is a plate 41 having guide rails 42 extending downwardly at oneside of the path of the door 25 and thence laterally away from saidpath. These rails form a channel 43 therebetween, the ends of which areflared as shown at 44. The channel is so located that when the cagedescends the rollers 40 and 39 will enter the upper end of the channeland come against the inclined portion 45 of one of the rails 42. Thisinclined portion will act to deflect roller 39 laterally so as to swinglever 29 to disengage the head or hook 30 from rod 28. As the cagecontinues to descend the rollers 39 and 40 will travel along the channel43 and move laterally avvay from the cage. at the same time causing theunfastened door to swing outwardly relative to the cage and to theultimate position illustrated in Fig. 3. Thus the cage is open at bothends and a car can its] pass throughiitior intozand out of' either end;Consequently a. loaded car can be readily caged after-which thehoistcage can beoperated to elevatethe load. As the cage moves upwardly theoperation of the door 25- and 1' its fastening mechanism will bereversed so that as the cage passes upwardly away from the rails 42 thedoor will be. fastened' automatically in shut position.

Located adjacent the upper limit of movement of'th-e cage is a track 46adapted to receive the roller 20 and effect the overturning of theplatform portionof the cage so 'that the contents of the caged car willbe dumped ont onto the platform and be delivered therefrom through thespout formed by the walls 23 and 24 and the plate 22. Heretofore it hasbeen necessary to provide a spout sufficiently long to insure deliveryofthe hoisted material beyond the wall of the. shaft but owing to thelength of the spout employed and the rapid rotation or.

sweep set up during the overturning of the platform, the contents of thespout have been thrown outwardly and scattered by centrifugal force. Byproviding the short spout such as shown and described this objection isovercome but in the absence of some special means for receiving thematerial from the spout said material would fall down the shaft.

For the purposeof receiving and guiding the dumped material from theoverturned platform and: delivering it to a stationary chute or the likelocated beyondthe wall of the shaft, there is provided an intermediateor supplemental chute 4.7 suspendedbv hangers 4.8 from a pivot rod 49mounted in bearings 50. An arm 51 is extended laterally from the hangersand is suitably braced -as shown at 52. An arm 53 is extended upwardlyfrom the pivot- 49 and carries a counterbalance 54. A rod 55 ispivotally connected to the arm 51 as shown at 56 and is movably mountedbetween guide rollers 57. there being a roller 58 at the free end' ofthis rod normally supported in the path of the channel provided betweenthe upper end portions i of the rails 3. An ear 59 is extendeddownwardly from the outlet end of 'the chute 49 and normally seated in anotch V 60 therein is a roller 61 provided at one end of a lever 62. Aweight 63 is carried by the other end of this lever and serves to pressthe roller into the notch 60. Thus under normal conditions the chute 457is held against movement.

As the cage moves upwardly with the platform held against tilting asshown in Fig. 2,

the roller enters the channel between the rails of track 46 and theserails gradually shift lever 17 with the result that within a relativelyshort distance the platform begins to tilt as shown at a; in Fig. 1.this tilting gradually increasing to the intermediate 1 sition shown atZ) and finally to the position shown at 0 to insure gravitation throughthe platform spout of all of the contents of the caged car. Thelocations of the roller 20 at the three positions mentioned have been.indicated at a, b and 0 respectively. As the platform begins to dumpwhen in position a the roller 58 is received between the upper endportions i of the rails 3 and this roller is shifted inwardly toward thebail 1 during the continued upward movement and dumping of the platform.The parts are so timed that the intermediate or supplemental chute 4t?is swung toward the cage and inclined so that the upper or receiving endof chute 47 will ultimately be brought to position under the end of thedelivery spout of the platform. thus to receive the discharged contentsand direct them into a stationary spout 64: located beyond the mineshaft. Obviously the discharged material cannot fall down the shaft andas the sweep of the delivery spout of the platform is comparativelyshort the material will not be scattered by centrifugal force. It willbe apparent that by providing rails 3 shaped as shown and described. theintermediate chute 4i? willbe swung into material receiving position ata speed which gradually increases in proportion to the upward speed ofthe bail 1. In other words the intermediate chute will be graduallypicked up so that there will be no sudden jar and consequent breakagesuch as would result bv the abrupt contact of the rapidly moving bail orother partwith an operating lever or the like. As soon as the cagestarts to move downward after having delivered its load the platform isreturned by reversal of the action of the mechanism controlling the sameand at the same time the rod swings the intermediate chute -17 hack toits normal position where the roller 61 snaps into notch and the partsare held until further delivery of the material takes place. As the cageapproaches the bottom of the shaft. the door 25 will be opened asheretofore explained.

While the various mechanisms herein described for overturning the cage.operating the door, and shifting the intermediate chute. have been shownapplied to one side only of the cage. it is to be understood that all orany of the mechanism can be duplicated atthe two sides of the cage it)and as the construction will he the same at both sides under thoseconditions. it has not been deemed necessary to illustrate the same.

By providing the particular means described for transferring materialfrom the spout of the overturned cage to a chute located outside of themine shaft. it becomes possible to mount the cage at its center ofgravity, thus reducing the power required to overturn the cage whileapproaching the point oi delivery. This has not been possible heretoforewhere a long delivery spout has been necessary in order to convey theunloading material from the overturned cage to a chute outside of themine shaft.

hat is claimed is 1. The combination with a bail, a cage tiltablymounted therein and means for tilting the cage, said cage having anintegral delivery spout normally extending upwardly therefrom, of achute supported normally outside of the path of the cage, and meansoperated by the upward movement of the bail during the tilting of thecage for moving said chute at a speed gradually increasing in proportionto the upward speed of the cage into position to receive material delivered from the spout.

2. The combination with a bail, a cage tiltably mounted therein andhaving an integral delivery spout normally extending upwardly therefromand means for tilting the cage to deliver the contents the spout, of amovably supported chute normally removed from the path of the cage, andmeans operated by the movement of the cage to delivering position forshifting the chute at a speed gradually increasing in proportion to theupward speed of the cage, into position to receive material deliveredfrom the spout.

3. The combination with an overturning cage having an integral deliveryspout normally extending therefrom, and means for overturning the cageon reaching one limit of its movement, of a chute normally outside ofthe path of the cage. and means operated simultaneously with theoverturning of the cage for bringing the chute into position to receivea load from the spout, the speed of movement of the chute into materialreceiving position, gradually increasing in proportion to the upwardspeed of the cage.

4:. The combination with an overturning cage, a delivery spout normallyextending upwardly therefrom and means for overturning the cage whenbrought to one limit of its movement, of a chute located outside ofv thepath of the cage, an intermediate chute movably supported thereabove,and means operated simultaneously with the overturning of the cage forshifting the intermediate chute at a speed gradually increasing inproportion to the upward speed of the cage, into position to transfermaterial from the spout of the overturned cage to the first named chute.

5. The combination with an overturning cage, a normally upstanding spoutthereon, and means for overturning the cage when reaching one limit ofits movement, of a main chute located outside of the path of the cage,an intermediate chute suspended thereabove, yielding means for holdingthe intermediate chute against movement, and

thereof through.

means operated simultaneously with the overturning of the cage formoving the intermediate chute at a speed gradually increasing inproportion to the upward speed of the cage into position to transfermaterial from the spout of the cage'to the main chute.

6. The combination with a bail, an overturning cage, a spout normallyextending upwardly therefrom, means for overturning the cage whenbrought to one limit of its) 'movement, of a counterbalanced chutenormally supported outside of the path of the cage, nected to tiecounterbalanced chute, and projecting close to the path of the bail, andmeans movable with the bail and cooperating with said member forshifting the chute at a speed gradually increasing in proportion to theupward speed of the bail into position to receive material from thespout of the overturned cage.

7. The combination with a vertically movable structure, an overturningcage carried thereby, a spout-normally extending upwardly from the cage,and .meansfor overturning the cage when brought to one limit of itsmovement, of a movably supported chute normally outside the path of thecage. a counterbalance therefor, means for holding the chute normallyagainst movement, and cooperating means connected to said chute and tothe vertically movable structure for moving the chute at a speedgradually increasing in proportion to the upward speed of the cage intoposition to receive material discharged from the spout of the overturnedcage.

8. The combination with an overturning cage having an outlet spoutnormally extended upwardly, means for overturning the cage, and astationary chute outside of the path of the cage, of a counterbalancedintermediate chute mounted for oscillation above the stationary chute,means for holding the intermediate chute normally against movement, anactuating member connected to the chute and projecting close to the pathof the cage, and means cooperating with said member and movable duringthe overturning of the cage for shifting the intermediate chute at aspeed gradually increasing in proportion to the upward speed of the cageinto position to transfer unloading material. from the spout of theoverturned cage to the stationary chute.

9. The combination with a bail, an overturning cage tiltably mountedtherein and a spout normally extending upwardly from the cage, of a doornormally closing one end of the cage and adapted, when the cage isoverturned, to form the bottom of the cage, a latch for fastening thedoor inclosed position, stationary guide means adjacent one limit ofmovement of the cage, and

an operating member movably con-' means carried by the latch and movableinto engagement with the guide means for unlatching the door and movingthe door to open position during the movement of the cage to one limitofmovement.

10. The combination with a cage and a hinged door closing one endthereof, of a yieldingly held pivoted latch for fastening the door inclosed position, an arm radiating from the fulcrum of the latch, rollerscarried by the latch and arm, and stationary means for engagement by therollers during the movement of the cage in one direction forsuccessively unlatching the door and swinging the door to open position.

11. The combination with a cage and a hinged door normally closing oneend thereof, of a latch lever fulcrumed on the door, means engaged bythe lever for fastening the door in closed position, yielding meansengaging the lever for holding said lever in fastening position, spacedrollers movable With the lever about the fulcrum thereof, and stationarymeans for engagement by the rollers during the movement of the cage inone direction to successively shift the lever to unfastening the door,and swing the door to open position.

12. The combination With a bail, of an overturning cage having an outletspout normally extending upwardly, from one end thereof, means forpivotally supporting the cage within the bail close to the center ofgravity of the loaded cage, a movably supported chute and means operateddur ing the movement of the cage to overturned position for shifting thechute at a speed gradually increasing in proportion to the upward speedof the bail into position to receive material gravitating from the spoutof the cage.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature.

DANIEL F. LEPLEY.

